worldschool
TIL That a small portion of television static you see between channels is caused by cosmic background radiation, remnants of the 'Big Bang'.
Read More submitted by /u/Connor3977 [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL: Beethoven was such a massive star that following composers struggled to pull away from his artistic gravity. Brahms for example refused to make a symphony for 21 years, feeling unworthy. Schubert said: Who can ever do anything, after Beethoven?
Read More submitted by /u/Beethoven_Fan [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that a Utah woman was allegedly murdered by her husband while on a murder mystery trivia cruise in Alaska. The event was a musical Sherlock Holmes-themed murder mystery trivia program, and some of her fellow passengers thought the screams coming from her cabin were part of the show.
Read More submitted by /u/Tokyono [link] [comments]
worldschool
Today I learned that Ringo Starr was the narrator for Thomas the Tank Engine from 1984-1990.
Read More submitted by /u/ThatLocalPessimist [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that in 2007, the hijacking of a Mauritanian flight was thwarted. Over the PA, the pilot instructed the passengers that he was about to make a bumpy landing, and they should attack the hijacker while he was off balance. He said this in French, which the gunman did not speak. The ploy succeeded.
Read More submitted by /u/Alex_Sylvian [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL The song "Midnight Special" is about a steam locomotive that used to pass the Louisiana State Prison and its light would shine into the cells. Prisoners developed a superstition that having the light shine on you would bring fortune and freedom.
Read More submitted by /u/Akanaro [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL of Sisamnes, a corrupt judge in the Persian Empire (525 BC). After accepting a bribe, the king had him arrested and skinned alive. His skin was then used to cover the seat from which judgments were made. His own son 'Otanes' then replaced him as judge.
Read More submitted by /u/Azlan82 [link] [comments]
worldschool
worldschool
TIL that Johnny Cash reignited his career in the 90’s due to his fondness (and rift it caused with his older, evangelical audience at the time) of a late 80’s British tribute album of his songs made by Indie/Punk musicians to raise money for AIDS awareness
Read More submitted by /u/Yikyakyaktaktak [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that Christopher Lee was once driving through Italy with his wife when their car had a puncture. He went for help, but fell into a ditch and got covered in mud. He reached a house and knocked on the door. The owner opened it, shrieked and fainted. They’d seen a Dracula film the night before.
Read More submitted by /u/Tokyono [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that Saudi Arabia accidentally printed textbooks showing Yoda sitting next to the king.
Read More submitted by /u/JackHoffmanTheWise [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL in 2012, a U.S. programmer was caught hiring a Chinese programmer to do all his work for 1/5th of his high-paying salary. His workplace later discovered he was spending all day mostly just watching cat videos.
Read More submitted by /u/brooklynmoon [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL: There is a diamond mine open to the public in Arkansas, it is the only diamond mine open to the public. So far 31000 gems have been found since it became a state park in 1972, the visitors keep what they found.
Read More submitted by /u/MinovixV2 [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL about the legendary pickpocket Apollo Robbins, who once stripped Jimmy Carter’s Secret Service detail of their watches, badges, keys, and the presidential itinerary. He once stole a man’s driver’s license and made it turn up inside a sealed bag of M&M’s in his wife’s purse.
Read More submitted by /u/JayBrock [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL The thief of America’s first bank robbery who stole the sum of $162,821, was caught because he deposited the money back into the same bank.
Read More submitted by /u/SpaceMonkeyAlpha [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL an 18th century American businessman published a book in which he ranted about politicians, the clergy, and his wife. It had no punctuation and had random capitalization. In the 2nd edition, he added an extra page with 13 lines of punctuation marks, stating that readers could put them anywhere.
Read More submitted by /u/Tokyono [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL of a Light Bulb that has been burning for over 100 hundred years. It hangs on a cord from the ceiling of the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department’s Fire Station #6, and it has been burning since 1901
Read More submitted by /u/czmhdk [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL Frank Gusenberg, a gangster who was shot 14 times in the St Valentine's Day massacre, refused to identify his killer. His last words were, "I ain't no copper."
Read More submitted by /u/Jim_Carr_laughing [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL in 1951, Natalie Carbone Mangini became the first female scientist at Westinghouse. They meant to hire a man but they misread her resume and gave her an interview when she showed up. As a radiochemist, she worked on the world's first full-scale atomic reactor and the first nuclear submarine.
Read More submitted by /u/Intro24 [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that bees will not build in a gap that is very specifically 6-9 mm in width (but they WILL build in larger or smaller spaces). This discovery, called "bee space", made modern beehives with removeable "frames" for honeycomb possible; otherwise, the bees would just cement everything together.
Read More submitted by /u/g3iger [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL in 2015, an American teen chose to commit suicide by snake bite. Sitting in his car, he allowed his pet Cobra to bite him multiple times. He was found in his car having suffered cardiac arrest, the snake had escaped and was later found on a nearby road.
Read More submitted by /u/Azlan82 [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL if you find an uninhabited island covered in guano you are allowed to take it for yourself in the name of the USA
Read More submitted by /u/PapaSecundus [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL there's a Buddhist majority republic in Europe called Kalmykia. It's part of Russia, many inhabitants are ethnically Mongolian and it's capital features several beautiful Buddhist temples.
Read More submitted by /u/Slobberinho [link] [comments]
worldschool
worldschool
TIL in Arthurian legend, the Questing Beast was a creature with the head of a serpent, body of a leopard, haunches of a lion, and feet of a deer. It may have inspired by third-hand descriptions of giraffes from merchants
Read More submitted by /u/Bialystock-and-Bloom [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL Ty Warner, creator of Beanie Babies, gave a woman who was dying of kidney disease $20,000 to get a banned stem cell treatment outside the US that could save her life. He only met her once, when he was lost and she gave him directions in a parking lot.
Read More submitted by /u/CloneNoodle [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that Steve Jobs was so good at applying his reality distortion field to convincing employees not to quit, that the original Macintosh motherboard designer planned to just walk into Steve's office and pee on his desk before he'd have the opportunity to convince him not to quit.
Read More submitted by /u/bemmu [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that during China's one child policy, 324 million Chinese women were pressured into being surgically fitted with contraceptive devices and 108 million were sterilized
Read More submitted by /u/cltfarmer [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL of Movile Cave. Life in the cave has been separated from the outside for the past 5.5 million years and it is based completely Chemosynthesis. The atmosphere deep in the cave it like an alien planet, and more than 30 of the species found inside cannot be found anywhere else on Earth.
Read More submitted by /u/tommaco81 [link] [comments]
worldschool
worldschool
TIL that, when Dan Aykroyd was developing Crystal Head Vodka, he thought there would be a trademark conflict with "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", a meeting between Aykroyd and director Steven Spielberg resulted in the drink being served at the movie's premiere
Read More submitted by /u/Ryan_Holman [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that the Treaty of Paris, the treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War, refers to the island of Phelipeaux as a landmark for the American-Canadian border. The island Phelipeaux has never existed.
Read More submitted by /u/HAximand [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL Robert Downey, Jr. started using drugs at age 6 when his father gave him pot. By age 8, he admits he was a drug addict. B/n 1995-2001, he cycled through arrests, rehab & prison. Sober since 2001, he became the highest-paid actor 2013-2015 and the 2nd highest-grossing box office star of all time.
Read More submitted by /u/JAZINNYC [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL a Polish man received a building permit for a single-family home in the 1980s, he then spent his fortune building a 52-room castle, with 365 windows and 12 turrets. Once the authorities found out, they put an end to construction, he's still fighting with them now, 35 years later, to complete it.
Read More submitted by /u/Azlan82 [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that in 2017 Iceland was concerned about an uptick in murders as there were four murders in the entire country, more than double the typical number
Read More submitted by /u/Ramy_ [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL In the Netherlands sex is seen as a human right, disabled citizens can get grants for legal prostitutes up to 12 times a year. Reports show this has significantly reduced depression and suicide rates among the disabled, many of whom have previously never had the chance to have sex before.
Read More submitted by /u/ImACumWhore [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL in 2015 smartwatch maker Pebble declined a $740m offer from watchmaker Citizen, a year later they sold the company to Fitbit in region of $23m-$40m.
Read More submitted by /u/TheWeirdDude-247 [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that Hitler only had four teeth when he died.
Read More submitted by /u/billiamcole [link] [comments]
worldschool
worldschool
TIL that the French general that lost the battle of Trafalgar, was found dead a year later in a French hotel with six stab wounds in his left lung and one in his heart. His death was ruled a suicide. This verdict was heavily mocked by contemporary British press.
Read More submitted by /u/Tokyono [link] [comments]
worldschool
worldschool
TIL Martin Luther King Jr.'s given name was Michael King. His father was so inspired by German theologian Martin Luther's part in the Protestant Reformation that he had both his and his son's names changed.
Read More submitted by /u/intelligentiam [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that fitness guru Richard Simmons, known for being accessible in the past, has not appeared in public since 2014. Some have claimed that his housekeeper is holding him captive. A podcast, "Missing Richard Simmons", attempted to investigate his disappearance from public life.
Read More submitted by /u/DukeMaximum [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL the Finns sarcastically dubbed the Soviet cluster bombs "Molotov bread baskets" in reference to Molotov's propaganda broadcasts. When the hand-held bottle firebomb was developed to attack Soviet tanks, the Finns called it the "Molotov cocktail", as "a drink to go with the food".
Read More submitted by /u/PM_ME_Y0UR_B0OBS_ [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL 26 states in the U.S. do not require employers to provide meal or rest breaks to their employees.
Read More submitted by /u/McPepperdoodle [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL about "Sgt. Bill", a man who claimed to be a DEA Agent and conducted raids on meth labs and made 20 arrests in the small town of Gerald, Missouri. However, it transpired that he was lying, and was an ex-convict, bankrupt and unemployed. However, he actually succeeded in getting rid of the meth.
Read More submitted by /u/Alex_Sylvian [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL I learned that a lawyer once tried to bring a tic-tac-toe playing chicken into court to prove that being able to play tic-tac-toe did not prove you were mentally competent to understand the consequences of your actions or why you were being executed for them
Read More submitted by /u/AliceMadder [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL I learned about RAS Syndrome (redundant acronym syndrome), which is when one or more words, in an acronym, are repeated. Such as, PIN Number, ATM Machine, or UPC Code.
Read More submitted by /u/Spbl [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that baby sand tiger sharks devour their siblings in the womb. The largest, usually the earliest, embryo devours the others, until only two dominant embryos are left. Female sand tiger sharks’ mate with multiple males and the babies will then compete in the womb to be born.
Read More submitted by /u/Tokyono [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL that in 2012 a statue of Jesus in India mysteriously began dripping water from its toes. Worshipers started collecting it and drinking it believing it was holy. The source of the water was later found to be a clogged toilet near the statue.
Read More submitted by /u/boopsterdoopster [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL a wood ladder in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem has been in the same place since 1757 because moving it would require the consent of six religious orders who almost never reach a consensus.
Read More submitted by /u/MarsNirgal [link] [comments]
worldschool
TIL Anaphylaxis isn't always a sudden, dramatic reaction, and can come on slowly, with only a few mild-appearing symptoms for up to 20 minutes after exposure. It can also come back for another round of symptoms hours after, which is why getting immediate medical attention is so important.
Read More submitted by /u/superlosernerd [link] [comments]